20 Ways

May you be inspired by one of these ideas to bring the joy of Christmas to others in your community or around the world this holiday season. 

1. Visit a homeless shelter or tent city and donate blankets, gloves, socks, hats, or coats. Each little item keeps someone warm and can help them survive those awfully cold nights. 
2. Sponsor an angel from the Salvation Army Angel Giving tree. This is a new tradition for us, and we had so much fun picking out just the perfect gifts requested on the cards this year! 
3. If you’re unable to get out to a store to choose an individual angel from their trees around town, you can still donate to the Salvation Army online! A donation online is just like dropping money into those little red buckets. 
4. One Warm Coat is a national organization dedicated to making sure everyone who needs a warm coat this year gets one. 
5. If you’re a pet lover, often local animal shelters hold food or toy drives for the animals housed there during Christmastime. These shelters tend to see an influx of new animals when the weather turns cold, because people are more inclined to drop off a stray for fear of them not surviving the cold. Shelters rely on such food donations well into the new year to care for the animals that wander their way.
6. If you have a particular talent that you could share with others, now would be a great time to volunteer at a local children’s hospital or nursing home. If you play the piano, you could bring Christmas carols to the elderly or bedridden.
7. You could also participate in Project Linus, which provides handmade blankets to children who are terminally ill or have been traumatized, or who could otherwise just use a warm blanket around them. You can participate by donating a handmade blanket to a nearby Project Linus chapter, or by donating online to help pay for shipping and material costs. 
8. Ask around in your community, work, schools, or church to see if there is a family with a particular need that you might fulfill. Whether it’s things or service, there is bound to be someone near you who could use some help, and there is bound to be some way you can help them. 
9. Donate time, money, or food to the local food bank. Food banks always run low this time of year, and their staff is always stretched thin. 
10. Giving anonymously is great because the recipients won’t know who the gift came from. As a result, they won’t feel embarrassed or ashamed of needing help. If you really want to make someone’s day, seek out that single mother who busts her butt to provide for her kids or that struggling family that works hard but can’t seem to get ahead. 
11. Volunteer at your local soup kitchen. The cold weather sends people inside more than other times of year, and it seems harder this time of year for people in need to find a warm meal. Volunteering at a local soup kitchen can be a great bonding experience for your family, and can give you a chance to make friends with those less fortunate in our community.. 
12. Donate to the cause of your choice on behalf of someone else. If a loved one has suffered from Breast Cancer, Miscarriage, Infertility, or any other ailment, you can make a loving donation in the name of a friend or family member that supports a cause close to your heart. 
13. Toys for Tots is organization that is directed by the US Marine Corps Reserve. At Christmas, coordinators, with the assistance of local social welfare agencies, church groups, and other local community agencies, distribute donated toys to the less fortunate children of the community.
14. Save a live. Give blood.Think about it: you giving up a half hour of your life to donate blood could potentially mean giving somebody years that they wouldn't have otherwise had. And you get cookies!
15. Visit Click to Give . With just the click of your mouse you can help up to 6 charities a day! Giving can't get much simpler than that!
16. Be daring! Donate those beautiful locks to Locks of Love a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.
17. Leave a surprise behind! Place a dollar- or two some place for someone to find! Here are some ideas: place 4 quarters in the vending machine, place a dollar behind a couple napkins in the napkin dispenser, hide a dollar between some cans of baby food. 
18. Donate to women's shelters in your area. Chances are they are forgotten about or over looked this time of year.
19. Send a Christmas card to a stranger. We all know someone who knows someone who knows someone who is going through something or who has been through something that has touched our hearts some how.... share that with them; publicly or anonymously. 
20. If you don’t have the money or items to donate, simply visit with the folks at the local homeless shelter or tent city, even the folks at the local rest home. Sometimes just feeling like you matter as a person can really uplift someone's spirits.

May your holidays be bright!